Delay apparatus and method thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a delay apparatus for delaying an input signal by a predetermined delay amount, including: a plurality of delay units for respectively delaying the input signal by the predetermined delay amount, each delay unit having a plurality of delay cells for respectively delaying the input signal by a certain delay period; and a sub decoding unit for generating a plurality of sub control signals to each of the delay units according to a first control signal and a selecting signal, wherein only delay cell of all the delay units is outputted at a time according to the sub controls signals.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a delay apparatus and method thereof. Specifically, the present invention relates to a delay apparatus and method thereof used in a delay locked loop circuit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In synchronous electronic systems, the integrated circuits in the system are synchronized to a common reference clock. This synchronization often cannot be achieved simply by distributing a single reference clock to each of the integrated circuits for the following reasons, among others. When an integrated circuit receives a reference clock, the circuit often must condition the reference clock before the circuit can use the clock. Usually, a delay locked loop (DLL) has at least one delay element and a control circuit to provide the time delay as required, so as to synchronize the local clock to the reference clock. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, in a memory interface between a DDR (Double Data Rate) memory and a chipset, a clock cycle of DQS (data strobe) signal and a clock cycle of DQ (data) signal passed from the DDR memory to the chipset should be ideally aligned with each other. In this case, a DLL circuit will be used for phase-shifting the DQS signal by a certain delay for accurately latching the data.

As mentioned above, the DLL circuit is commonly used in integrated circuit, accordingly, there is a need for an improved DLL circuit, which synchronizes input clocks to reference clocks with a linear delay timing performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a delay apparatus for delaying an input signal by a predetermined delay amount. The delay apparatus includes: a plurality of delay cells connected in series for successively delaying the input signal with the predetermined delay amount according to a sub control signal, wherein each delay cell respectively has a delay period; a sub decoding unit coupled to the delay cells for generating the sub control signal according to a first control signal and a selecting signal; and a decoding unit coupled to the sub decoding unit for generating the first control signal and the selecting signal according to a counting value; wherein only one of the delay cell is outputted at a time.

The present invention also provides another delay apparatus for delaying an input signal by a predetermined delay amount. The delay apparatus includes: a decoding circuit for generating a plurality of sub control signals according to a counting value; and a plurality of delay units connected in series for successively delaying the input signal as an output signal, wherein the delay units respectively delays the input signal for the predetermined delay amount according to one of the sub control signal; wherein only one of the sub control signals is valid and only one bit of the valid sub control signal is enabled at a time.

The present invention provides a method for delaying an input signal as an output signal with a predetermined delay amount. The method includes: delaying the input signal successively through a plurality of delay units connected in series; generating a plurality of sub control signals according to a first control signal and a selecting signal, the sub control signals are respectively applied to the corresponding delay unit, wherein the output of each delay unit is respectively determined by the corresponding sub control signal; and determining the output signal from each output of the delay units according to the selecting signal; wherein only one of the sub control signal is valid and only one bit of the valid sub control signal is enabled at a time.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a timing chart showing one example of the timing of a DQS signal and a DQ signal.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a delay locked loop circuit;

FIG. 3 is a first block diagram of a delay element of the present invention;

FIG. 4 a is an exemplary schematic of a first delay unit in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 b is an exemplary schematic of a second delay unit in the FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary truth table of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a second block diagram of a delay element of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary schematic of sub decoder unit in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an exemplary truth table of FIG. 6

FIG. 9 a an exemplary schematic of a first delay unit in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 b an exemplary schematic of a second delay unit in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional delay locked loop (DLL) circuit for providing a required phase difference. Referring to FIG. 2, the delay locked loop circuit 100 includes: a delaying circuit 10 having a plurality of delay elements DE₁˜DE_(n) with a certain delay period connected in series for successively delaying the input signal CLK₁ as an output signal CLKdn; a 1/N frequency divider 12 for dividing the input signal CLK₁ by N, where N is an integer larger than 1; and a determining circuit 14 connected to the 1/N frequency divider 12 and the delay circuit 10 for generating a control signal to control the delay amount of the delay circuit 10. The determining circuit 14 includes a phase detector 16; a counter 18 (ex. an up/down gray code counter), and a decoding unit 20. The phase detector 16 determines the phase difference between a reference clock REFCLK and the output signal CLKdn; and the counter 18 counts the phase difference according to a counting clock CLK₂ from the 1/N divider 12 and output a counting value VAL. The counting value VAL could be in the format of a gray code. The decoding unit 20 generates the control signals according to the counting value VAL and a table. The control signals are applied to the delay circuit 10 for adjusting the delay amounts of the delay circuit 10.

The delay circuit 10 as shown in FIG. 2 has at least one delay element, and each delay element has a plurality of delay units for respectively delaying the clock signal CLK₁ for a certain delay amounts according to VAL. Take the first delay element DE₁ of FIG. 2 as an example and as shown in FIG. 3. In the present invention, assume the delay element DE₁ includes four delay units DU₁˜DU₄ and a multiplexer 25; and the decoding unit 20 includes: a first decoder 26, a second decoder 27 and a third decoder 28. The first decoder 26 generates a first control signal CS1 to each delay units DU₁˜DU₄ for respectively controlling the delay amount of delay units DU₁˜DU₄. The second decoder 27 generates a second control signal CS2 to the first delay unit DU₁ to fine tune the delay amount of the input signal CLK₁. The third decoder 28 generates a selecting signal SEL to the multiplexer 25 for determining the output signal CLKd1 of the first delay element DE₁ from the four delay units DU₁˜DU₄.

FIG. 4 a shows an exemplary schematic of the first delay unit DU₁ in the FIG. 3. The first delay unit DU₁ includes: eight successively connected delay cells DC₁₀˜DC₁₇ for successively delaying the input signal CLK₁; and eight pass gates PSG₁₀˜PSG₁₇ respectively connected to the output of each delay cells DC₁₀˜DC₁₇ and controlled by the first control signal CS1. The first delay cell (i.e. fine delay cell) DC₁₀ of the first delay unit DU₁ is used to fine tune the input signal CLK₁ according to the second control signal CS2 from the second decoder 27; and the others delay cell DC₁₁˜DC₁₇ respectively receive the signal from the previously connected delay cell and output to the next connected delay cell. The pass gates PSG₁₀˜PSG₁₇ are respectively connected to the corresponding output of the delay cells DC₁₀˜DC₁₇ and controlled by one corresponding bit of the first control signal CS1. That is, assume the first control signal CS1 has 8 bits (b₀, b₁, . . . b₇), and each bit is corresponding to one of the pass gates PSG₁₀˜PSG₁₇. For example, the second pass gate PSG₁₁ controlled by b₁ is connected to the output of the second delay cell DC₁₁. When b₁ is enabled (i.e. logic 1), the second pass gate PSG₁₁ is turned on, and the output of the second delay cell DC₁₁ is thus outputted as the output signal CLKDU₁ of the first delay unit DU₁.

In the present invention, only one bit of the first control signal CS1 from the first decoder 26 is enabled (i.e. logic 1) at a time. When a certain bit of the first control signal CS1 is enabled, the corresponding pass gate is turned on and the connected delay cell is thus outputted as the output signal CLKDU₁ of the first delay unit DU₁.

FIG. 4 b shows an exemplary schematic of the second delay unit DU₂ in the FIG. 3. The second delay unit DU₂ includes: eight successively connected delay cells DC₂₀˜DC₂₇ for successively delaying the signal CLKDU₁ outputted from the first delay unit DU₁; and eight pass gates PSG₂₀˜PSG₂₇ respectively connected to the output of each delay cells DC₂₀˜DC₂₇ and controlled by the first control signal CS1. The connections of the delay cells DC₂₀˜DC₂₇ and the pass gates PSG₂₀˜PSG₂₇ of the second delay unit DU₂ are similar as the first delay unit DU₁; for example, the first pass gate PSG₂₀ is connected to the first delay cell DC₂₀. Furthermore, the first delay cell DC₂₀ of the second delay unit DU₂ is connected to the last delay cell (i.e. DC₁₇) of the first delay unit DU₁. However, it's noticed that the first pass gates PSG₂₀ connected to the first delay cell DC₂₀ is controlled by the MSB (i.e. b₇) of the first control signal CS1, and the eighth pass gates PSG₂₇ connected to the eighth delay cell DC₂₇ is controlled by the LSB (i.e. b₀) of the first control signal CS1. Assume that if b₇ is enabled (i.e. logic 1), the first pass gate PSG₂₀ is turned on, and the output of the first delay cell DC₂₀ is thus outputted as the output signal CLKDU₂ of the second delay unit DU₂.

The third delay unit DU₃ and the fourth delay unit DU₄ have the same schematics as shown in FIG. 4 b. The first delay cell DC₃₀ of the third delay unit DU₃ is connected to the last delay cell (i.e. DC₂₇) of the second delay unit DU₂; and the first delay cell DC₄₀ of the fourth delay unit DU₄ is connected to the last delay cell (i.e. DC₃₇) of the third delay unit DU₃.

It's also noticed that, in the third the delay unit DU₃, the first pass gates PSG₃₀ connected to the first delay cell DC₃₀ is controlled by the LSB (i.e. b₀) of the first control signal CS1, and the eighth pass gates PSG₃₇ connected to the eighth delay cell DC₃₇ is controlled by the MSB (i.e. b₇) of the first control signal CS1. In the fourth delay unit DU₄, the first pass gates PSG₄₀ connected to the first delay cell DC₄₀ is controlled by the MSB (i.e. b₇) of the first control signal CS1, and the eighth pass gates PSG₄₇ connected to the eighth delay cell DC₄₇ is controlled by the LSB (i.e. b₀) of the first control signal CS1. For example, when b₇ of the first control signal CS1 is enabled (i.e. logic 1), the pass gate PSG₃₇ and PSG₄₀ are turned on, and the delay cell DC₃₇ and DC₄₀ are respectively outputted as the output signal CLKDU₃ and CLKDU₄ of the third delay unit DU₃ and the fourth delay unit DU₄.

As the description above, the delay unit DU₁˜DU₄ are all controlled by the first control signal CS1; therefore the output signal CLKDU₁˜CLKDU₄ of the delay unit DU₁˜DU₄ are outputted at a time. FIG. 5 is one exemplary truth table of the embodiment, and Table I shows the relationships between the first control signal CS1 and the accordingly turned on pass gates.

CS1 [b₇ b₆ b₅ b₄ b₃ b₂ b₁ b₀] The corresponding turned on pass gates (000 000 01) PSG₁₀, PSG₂₇, PSG₃₀, PSG₄₇ (000 000 10) PSG₁₁, PSG₂₆, PSG₃₁, PSG₄₆ (000 001 00) PSG₁₂, PSG₂₅, PSG₃₂, PSG₄₅ (000 010 00) PSG₁₃, PSG₂₄, PSG₃₃, PSG₄₄ (000 100 00) PSG₁₄, PSG₂₃, PSG₃₄, PSG₄₃ (001 000 00) PSG₁₅, PSG₂₂, PSG₃₅, PSG₄₂ (010 000 00) PSG₁₆, PSG₂₁, PSG₃₆, PSG₄₁ (100 000 00) PSG₁₇, PSG₂₀, PSG₃₇, PSG₄₀ (100 000 00) PSG₁₇, PSG₂₀, PSG₃₇, PSG₄₀ . . . . . .

In the embodiment, the first delay cell DC₁₀ of the first delay unit DU₁ is used to fine tune the input signal CLK₁. The first delay cell DC₁₀ has 4 fine tune steps and the delay period of each step is t1. Moreover, the other delay cell DC₁₁˜DC₁₇, DC₂₀˜DC₂₇, DC₃₀˜DC₃₇, DC₄₀˜DC₄₇, respectively have the delay period of t2 which is substantially equals to 4*t1. That is to say, the first delay unit DU₁ has the delay periods from 1*t1 to 32*t1; the second delay unit DU₂ has the delay periods from 33*t1 to 64*t1; the third delay unit DU₃ has the delay periods from 65*t1 to 96*t1; the fourth delay unit DU₄ has the delay periods from 97*t1 to 128*t1. Referring to FIG. 4 a, FIG. 5 and Table I, if the delay periods of 32*t1 (i.e. the VAL is (00010000)) is required, the corresponding first control signal CS1 is (10000000) and the selecting signal SEL is (0001), the pass gate PSG₁₇ is turned on, which means the 32*t1 delay is contributed by the delay cells DC₁₀ and DC₁₇ (i.e. 4*t1+7*t2=32*t1). However, if the delay periods of 33*t1 (i.e. the VAL is (00110000)) is required, the corresponding first control signal CS1 is (10000000) and the selecting signal SEL is (0010), the pass gate PSG₂₀ is turned on, which means the 33*t1 delay is contributed by the delay cells DC₁₀ and DC₂₀. (i.e. 1*t1+8*t2=33*t1). It can be seen that when the delay period of 32*t1 is required, the pass gate PSG₁₇ behind the delay cell DC₁₀ is turned on, however, when the delay period of 33*t1 is required, the pass gate PSG₁₇ ahead the delay cell DC₂₀ and the pass gate PSG₂₀ behind the delay cell DC₂₀ are turned on at a same time, therefore, loading of the delay element is unbalanced while the delay period is increased from 32*t1 to 33*t1. As the descriptions above, it's observed that when the delay period is increased from 32*t1 to 32*t1, from 64*t1 to 65*t1 and 96*t1 to 97*t1, the pass gates adjacent to the outputted delay cells are turned on at a same time which leads to unbalanced loading and results in the nonlinearly delay in such embodiment.

Take the first delay element DE₁ of FIG. 2 as an example. FIG. 6 shows a schematic of a delay element DE₁ according to a second embodiment of the present invention. With comparing to FIG. 3, a sub decoding unit 22 is used for generating a plurality of sub control signals SCS to each of the delay units DU₁˜DU₄ according to the first control signal CS1 and the selecting signal SEL. The decoding unit 20 and the sub decoding unit 22 shown in FIG. 6 could be integrated as a decoding circuit.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary schematic of sub decoding unit 22 for generating the sub control signals which includes eight NAND gates and eight inverters; the inverters are respectively connected to the corresponding output of the NAND gate. The NAND gate has two input ports; the first input port respectively receives the corresponding one bit of the first control signal CS1, and the second port receives one bit of the selecting signal SEL. For example, the sub decoding unit 20 generates a first sub control signal SCS₁ applied to the first delay unit DU₁ according to the first control signal CS1 and the first bit of the selecting signal SEL. In other words, each bit of the first control signal CS1[b₀ . . . b₇] is respectively applied to the first input port of the corresponding NAND gate; and the first bit of the selecting SEL[b₀] is applied to the second input ports of the NAND gates. Similarly, the sub decoding 610 generates a second sub control signal SCS₂ applied to the second delay unit DU₂ according to the first control signal CS1 and the second bit of the selecting signal SEL. A third and a fourth sub control signals SCS₃ and SCS₄ are also respectively generated according to the first control signal CS1 and the third and the fourth bits of the selecting signal SEL. In the embodiment, only one of the sub control signals is valid, and only one bit of the valid sub control signal is enabled; therefore there is only one delay cell of the delay element is outputted. For example, assume the first sub control signal SCS₁ is valid, which means one bit of the first sub control signal SCS₁ is enabled (i.e. logic “1”); therefore the other sub control signals SCS₂˜SCS₄ are invalid, which means bits of the sub control signals SCS₂˜SCS₄ are set to low (i.e. logic “0”).

In general, the sub decoding unit 22 practices the AND logic operations of the first control signal CS1 and the selecting signal SEL.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary truth table of the second embodiment. It's observed that there is only one of the sub control signals is valid and only one bit of the valid sub control signal is enabled at a time.

FIG. 9 a and FIG. 9 b show the exemplary schematics of the first delay unit DU₁ and the second delay unit DU₂ in the embodiment which are similar to the diagrams shown in FIG. 4 a and FIG. 4 b excepting for respectively applying the first sub control signal SCS₁ and the second sub control signal SCS₂ to the first delay unit DU₁ and the second delay unit DU₂. The schematics of the third delay unit DU₃ and the fourth delay unit DU₄ are similarly to the second delay unit DU₂ shown in FIG. 9 b.

As the described above, in the first delay unit DU₁, the first pass gate PSG₁₀, connected to the first delay cell DC₁₀, is controlled by the LSB (i.e. SCS₁[b₀]) of the first sub control signal SCS₁; the last pass gate PSG₁₇, connected to the last delay cell DC₁₇ is controlled by the MSB (i.e. SCS₁[b₇]) of the first sub control signal SCS₁. In the second delay unit DU₂, the first pass gate PSG₂₀, connected to the first delay cell DC₂₀, is controlled by the MSB (i.e. SCS₂[b₇]) of the second sub control signal SCS₂; the last pass gate PSG₂₇, connected to the last delay cell DC₂₇ is controlled by the LSB (i.e. SCS₂[b₀]) of the second sub control signal SCS₂. In the third delay unit DU₃, the first pass gate PSG₃₀, connected to the first delay cell DC₃₀, is controlled by the LSB (i.e. SCS₃[b₀]) of the third sub control signal SCS₃; the last pass gate PSG₃₇, connected to the last delay cell DC₃₇, is controlled by the MSB (i.e. SCS₃[b₇]) of the third sub control signal SCS₃. In the fourth delay unit DU₄, the first pass gate PSG₄₀, connected to the first delay cell DC₄₀, is controlled by the MSB (i.e. SCS₄[b₇]) of the fourth sub control signal SCS₄; the last pass gate PSG₄₇, connected to the last delay cell DC₄₇, is controlled by the LSB (i.e. SCS₄[b₀]) of the fourth sub control signal SCS₄.

Referring to FIG. 9 a and FIG. 9 b, assume that if the delay periods of 31*t1 is required, the corresponding first sub control signal SCS₁ is (10000000) and the other sub control signals SCS₂ SCS₄ are (00000000); therefore the pass gate PSG₁₇ is turned on, and the 31*t1 delay is contributed by the delay cells DC₁₀ and DC₁₇ (i.e. 3*t1+7*t2=31*t1). If the delay periods of As the descriptions above, it's observed that both of the time interval from 31*t1 to 32*t1 and from 32*t1 to 33*t1 are t1; similarly, the time intervals between 64*t1 to 65*t1 and 96*t1 to 97*t1 are also t1; therefore the linearly delay is achieved in the second embodiment. 32*t1 (i.e. the VAL is (00010000)) is required, the corresponding first control signal CS1 is (10000000) and the selecting signal SEL is (0001), the pass gate PSG₁₇ is turned on, which means the 32*t1 delay is contributed by the delay cells DC₁₀ and DC₁₇ (i.e. 4*t1+7*t2=32*t1). However, if the delay periods of 33*t1 (i.e. the VAL is (00011000)) is required, the corresponding first control signal CS1 is (10000000) and the selecting signal SEL is (0010), the pass gate PSG₂₀ is turned on, which means the 33*t1 delay is contributed by the delay cells DC₁₀ and DC₂₀. (i.e. 1*t1+8*t2=33*t1).

In the present invention, the delay unit further includes an auxiliary module (not shown in FIGS. 9 a and 9 b) connected to the pass gates for determine the output of the delay unit; and a plurality of dummy load cells (not shown in FIGS. 9 a and 9 b) respectively connected to the output of the delay cell for balance the loading of the delay unit.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments, particularly any prefer embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the present invention, many variation and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing substantially from the principles of the disclosure. 

1. A delay apparatus for delaying an input signal with a predetermined delay amount, comprising: a plurality of delay cells connected in series for successively delaying the input signal with the predetermined delay amount according to a sub control signal provided to each delay cells, wherein each delay cell respectively has a delay period; a sub decoding unit coupled to the delay cells for generating the sub control signal according to a first control signal and a selecting signal; and a decoding unit coupled to the sub decoding unit for generating the first control signal and the selecting signal according to a counting value; wherein only one of the delay cell is outputted at a time; and wherein, one of the delay cells is used to fine tune the input signal according to a second control signal generated by the decoding unit according to the counting value.
 2. The delay apparatus according to claim 1 wherein only one bit of the sub control signal is enabled at a time.
 3. The delay apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the sub control signal is generated according to the logic operation of the first control signal and the selecting signal.
 4. The delay apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of dummy load cells respectively connected to the outputs of the delay cells for balance the loading of the delay apparatus.
 5. The delay apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the sub control signals has a plurality bits, each bit is corresponding to one delay cell.
 6. The delay apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of pass gates respectively connected to the output of the corresponding delay cell, each pass gate is controlled by the corresponding bit of the sub control signal; wherein the delay cell is outputted while the corresponding pass gate is turned on.
 7. The delay apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the pass gate is turned on while the corresponding bit of the sub control signal is enabled.
 8. The delay apparatus according to claim 6 further comprising: an auxiliary module connected to the pass gates for determine the output of the delay cell.
 9. A delay apparatus for delaying an input signal as an output signal with a predetermined delay amount, comprising: a decoding circuit for generating a first control signal and a selecting signal according to a counting value, and further generating a plurality of sub control signals according to the first control signal and the selecting signal; and a plurality of delay units connected in series for successively delaying the input signal, wherein each of the delay units respectively delays the input signal for the predetermined delay amount according to one of the sub control signals; wherein only one of the sub control signals is valid and only one bit of the valid sub control signal is enabled at a time.
 10. The delay apparatus according to claim 9 each of the delay units comprises a plurality of delay cells connected in series, each delay cell has a delay period and controlled by one bit of the corresponding sub control signal.
 11. The delay apparatus according to claim 10 wherein one of the delay cells is used to fine tune the input signal according to a second control signal generated by the decoding circuit according to the counting value.
 12. The delay apparatus according to claim 10 wherein while the bit of the sub control signal is enable, the output of the corresponding delay cell is outputted as the output signal of the delay signal.
 13. The delay apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the each of the delay units further comprises a plurality of pass gates respectively connected to the output of the corresponding delay cell, each pass gate is controlled by the corresponding bit of the sub control signal; wherein the delay cell is outputted while the corresponding pass gate is turned on.
 14. The delay apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the pass gate is turned on while the corresponding bit of the sub control signal is enabled.
 15. The delay apparatus according to claim 13 each of the delay units further comprises: an auxiliary module connected to the pass gates for determine the output of the delay unit; and a plurality of dummy load cells respectively connected to the outputs of the delay cells for balance the loading of the delay apparatus.
 16. The delay apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the decoding circuit comprises: a decoding unit for generating the first control signal and the selecting signal according to the counting value; and a sub decoding unit for generating the plurality of sub control signals according to the first control signal and the selecting signal.
 17. The delay apparatus according to claim 16, wherein one of the sub control signal is generated according to the logic operation of each bit of the first control signal and one corresponding bit of the selecting signal.
 18. The delay apparatus according to claim 16 wherein each of the sub decoding units comprises a plurality of NAND gate; and a plurality of inverters respectively connected to the corresponding NAND gate.
 19. The delay apparatus according to claim 16 further comprising a multiplexer for selecting one of output of the delay units according to the selecting signal generated by the decoding circuit. 